BBC - Comedy - Open All Hours Open All Hours Open All Hours Originally conceived as the first of Ronnie Barker's 1973 pilot season Seven of One, it wasn't long before Open All Hours took on a life of its own. Roy Clarke, who'd already created another hit Yorkshire-based sitcom in Last of the Summer Wine, once worked in a corner-shop and had realised its potential as a setting for comedy. But the central character of miserly grocer Arkwright was the invention of Ronnie Barker, whose other sitcom alter-ego Norman Stanley Fletcher (in Porridge) was already an established classic. It's even more impressive, then, that Barker was able to transform himself once more and make Arkwright, and Open All Hours another all-time British comedy favourite. Allied to his avarice and constant eagerness to make a quick buck, Arkwright's other goal in life is to secure the affections of his neighbour and unrequited love, Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, but at the same time he must be a reluctant father figure to his nephew and delivery boy, Granville.

As well as balancing these two relationships, the role gave Barker the chance to exercise his verbal acting muscles, especially in bestowing upon Arkwright his trademark stutter, which was not only entirely convincing but always perfectly judged for comic effect. More so than in Porridge he was also able to exercise his physical comedy skills, such as in a rare running gag in which Arkwright would attempt to outwit his cash till and its vicious spring mechanism. While the show couldn't have worked without the unique Barker, he found a perfect comic foil in David Jason's portrayal of the young Granville. The two actors had already worked together briefly in Porridge, immediately developing a strong chemistry, and now their double act was given space to flourish. Supposedly of Hungarian extraction, young Granville constantly yearns of finding love, glamour and exotic encounters in life but these dreams always remain out of reach, symbolised by his flirtatious yet never-consummated relationship with the local milkwoman. Here was the strongest evidence yet of Jason's own burgeoning acting talent, and of his rightful claim as heir to Barker's sitcom crown.

The two bona fide stars were superbly supported throughout by Lynda Baron's performance as the kind-hearted Nurse Gladys, who shows the patience of a saint in suffering the endless carnal advances of Arkwright but is instead often more interested in the health of the battered and bruised Granville. However, in a fine example of Clarke's beautifully judged writing while Gladys always spurns Arkwright's propositions she does so with charm and warmth, always leaving just the faintest hint that in the right circumstances there could one day be something in the air. In a trait that would perhaps be unrecognisable in corner shops today, Clarke also wrote into the scripts a steady stream of regular customers (such as the cold Mrs Featherstone) whom Arkwright would exchange gossip with while trying to fleece them of more money. Its comedy may have been gentle and located in an unassuming setting, but amongst the heady company of Britain's top sitcoms Open All Hours still sits easily as one of the best. Open All Hours (TV Series 1973–1985) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later.

X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error Arkwright is a tight-fisted shop owner in Doncaster, who will stop at nothing to keep his profits high and his overheads low, even if this means harassing his nephew Granville. Arkwright's ... See full summary » Stars: Arkwright decides to take Nurse Gladys away to a hotel. This leaves Granville in a position to make his play for the milk round lady, but Arkwright, hands on as ever and never keen to be too far away... 8.2 To the envy of Granville who has never attended one,Arkwright is taking Nurse Gladys to a wedding and has taken his old suit out of moth-balls, but it still reeks of camphor. Nurse Gladys makes him ... 8.1 When Arkwright finds himself with a surplus of Jamaican Ginger cakes he tries various marketing ploys in order to sell them off, but hits the jackpot when he claims that the cakes contain drugs, ...

8.1 a list of 36 titles created 29 Dec 2011 a list of 42 titles created 19 Feb 2012 a list of 36 titles created 08 Jun 2013 a list of 45 titles created 30 Jan 2014 a list of 22 titles created 03 Jul 2014 Title: Open All Hours (1973–1985) 7.7/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. The prison life of Fletcher, a criminal serving a five-year sentence, as he strives to bide his time, keep his record clean, and refuses to be ground down by the prison system. Stars: Ronnie Barker, Brian Wilde, Fulton Mackay Long running BBC comedy show consisting of sketches and humourous musical routines involving the large Ronnie Barker and the small Ronnie Corbett. Most sketches involved both men, but ...

See full summary » Stars: Ronnie Barker, Ronnie Corbett, The Fred Tomlinson Singers Having inherited the shop from his uncle, it's business as usual for Granville at Arkwright's corner shop. Stars: David Jason, James Baxter, Stephanie Cole Victor Meldrew is a retiree who attracts bad luck. If he's not driving his long suffering wife Margeret crazy with his constant moaning, he's fighting with neighbors. Stars: Richard Wilson, Annette Crosbie, Doreen Mantle This prison comedy is based on the popular British television series of the same name. Long time Slade prison inmate Fletcher is ordered by Grouty to arrange a football match between the ... See full summary » Director: Dick Clement Classic 1960s British comedy series about a middle aged man and his elderly father who run an unsuccessful 'rag and bone' business (collecting and selling junk). Harold (the son) wants to ... See full summary » Stars: Wilfrid Brambell, Harry H. Corbett, Frank Thornton Accident-prone Frank Spencer fails to navigate the simplest tasks of daily life, while also trying to look after his wife and baby.

Stars: Michael Crawford, Michele Dotrice, Jessica Forte Going Straight (TV Series 1978) Comedy Following his release from Slade prison, Fletcher tries to stick to the straight and narrow, but it isn't easy! Stars: Ronnie Barker, Patricia Brake, Richard Beckinsale During WW2, in a fictional British seaside town, a ragtag group of Home Guard local defense volunteers prepare for an imminent German invasion. Stars: Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier, Clive Dunn Popular sitcom set in a seedy bedsit lorded over by the mean, vain, boastful, cowardly landlord Rigsby. In each episode, his conceits are debunked by his long suffering tenants. Stars: Leonard Rossiter, Don Warrington, Frances de la Tour Terry and Bob from The Likely Lads (1964) continue their life after Terry arrives home from serving in the Army to discover that Bob is about to marry his girlfriend Thelma. Can Thelma lead... See full summary » Stars: James Bolam, Rodney Bewes, Brigit Forsyth The misadventures of a ragtag group of elderly Home Guard local defense volunteers at the onset of WW2.

Director: Norman Cohen Edit Storyline Arkwright is a tight-fisted shop owner in Doncaster, who will stop at nothing to keep his profits high and his overheads low, even if this means harassing his nephew Granville. Arkwright's only weakness is his love - Nurse Gladys Emanuel. Written by Roy Clarke 20 February 1976 (UK) See more » Also Known As: Did You Know? Trivia In the pilot episode Granville's age is revealed as 25. However in the actual series he is 19. See more » Goofs Arkwright is supposed to be engaged (on and off) to Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, yet in several episodes, he is wearing a wedding ring. It's particularly noticeable when he's counting money from the till. See more » Quotes Granville : You won't let me buy firelighters. You say they're too expensive. Arkwright : They are in this damn shop. I'm not paying these prices! Get round the Co-op and buy some. [pause] Arkwright : Go and open a packet. Granville : [leaves the room, to return a few seconds later] Not if they're going to count as my birthday present.

(United Kingdom) – See all my reviews This is one of the best British sitcoms of all time and comes close to the likes of Porridge and Fawlty Towers. It's basically about a shopkeeper, Arkwright, who is a tight fisted old miser and is constantly trying to seek great attention from nurse Gladys Emanuel, his neighbour and so-called fiancé. Arkright runs a grocers shop on a quiet little street, set in early 1970's Doncaster. Each episode is mainly about the day-to-day running of the shop and Arkwrights' constant banter and disagreements with Granville, his nephew, employee and whipping boy. Granville is still a boy at heart, thanks to his uncle, who won't let him grow up. He is paid a pittance and is kept firmly at bay by his uncle from loose woman and any other form of socializing. The funniest moments in the show are the lengths Mr Arkwright will go to sell his products. He will say just about anything to get his customers to spend their hard earned dosh in his shop. But the dialogue between all characters is superb and it's clearly a well written series.

As the viewer, you really get used to the regular customers in the shop, and it's hilarious to see them be minipulated into buying items they didn't come in for. 10 Out Of 10 8 of 10 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes Ronnie Barker - a tribute to the late great actor who starred in Porridge and Going Straight Ronnie Barker Ronnie Barker OBE was born on 25 September 1929. Before Porridge hit the screens, Ronnie Barker was best known for his comedy series alongside Ronnie Corbett, The Two Ronnies. This highly successful series ran from 1971 until 1987, a year before Barker's retirement from show-business. The collaboration of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett dates back to the 1960s in comedy shows such as "The Frost Report". This show also starred other great British comedy stars early in their career such as John Cleese. In 1971 Barker and Corbett teamed up for their own hit show which lasted for 16 years finishing a year before Barker's retirement.

It was always a greatly loved show in Britain with the Christmas shows almost as popular as those of the legendary Morecambe & Wise. Ronnie's other successful sitcom was Open All Hours in which he starred alongside David Jason playing the unforgettable Arkwright. In 1988 Ronnie played a short-sighted removals man in a comedy set in the 1930s called Clarence. This is a personal favourite of mine that was full of laugh out loud moments (all too rare in sitcoms). However, perhaps because the humour mainly came from the character's near-sightedness it never caught on and has rarely been repeated since its first run in the late 1980s. This is a shame because the show is hilarious and is also the last work Ronnie Barker did before he decided to retire. Barker's retirement in 1988 left a big hole in British entertainment. It is good that he ended his career on a high as that is how he will always be remembered. However, I somehow feel that his brilliance would never have gone stale. He did come out of retirement for a small role in "The Gathering Storm" about Winston Churchill as well as appearing in the TV Movie "My House in Umbria".

He even made one last appearance as Fletch in "Life Beyond the Box - Norman Stanley Fletcher" in 2003. This had apparently given him the taste for more TV work but sadly, it was not to be. Ronnie Barker has been seen on our screens from time to time at awards ceremonies and the like. However, to enjoy his entertainment we must rely on repeats and videos of comic classics such as Open All Hours, the under-rated Clarence and, of course, Porridge. Sadly, Ronnie Barker passed away on 3 October 2005 after a long illness. Rest in peace Ronnie, you will be sorely missed. Ronnie Barker's Character was Norman Stanley Fletcher born on 2 February 1932. A hopeless recidivist, he had been sentenced to five years in prison for stealing a lorry. The brilliance of the writing along with Ronnie Barker's acting abilities allowed the viewer to sympathise with the character of Fletch despite his criminal ways. Clement and La Frenais were not scared to show the harsh realities of incarceration and punishment. A brave move for a comedy. But it worked, and then some!

Ronnie Barker is now as much a part of British History as the legendary Oozalum bird! Porridge and Going Straight copyright belongs to the BBC and others. No copyright infringement is intended. Besides, if you think about it I am promoting your product for you. Any problems with copyright then please email me. ian@porridge.org.uk . Open All Hours - Series One [1976] [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Ronnie Barker, David Jason, Lynda Baron: DVD & Blu-ray Open All Hours - Series One [1976] [DVD] Â£4.25 & FREE UK Delivery on orders dispatched by Amazon over Â£20. Details Only 4 left in stock. This item can be delivered to your selected dispatch location in the United States. Details Sold by best_value_entertainment and Fulfilled by Amazon . Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) is a service Amazon offers sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's warehouses, and Amazon directly does the picking, packing, shipping and customer service on these items. Something Amazon hopes you'll especially enjoy: FBA items are eligible for and for Amazon Prime just as if they were Amazon items.

If you're a seller, you can increase your sales significantly by using Fulfilment by Amazon. We invite you to learn more about this programme . Note: This item is eligible for click and collect. Details Pick up your parcel at a time and place that suits you. Choose from over 13,000 locations across the UK Prime members get unlimited deliveries at no additional cost How to order to an Amazon Pickup Location? Find your preferred location and add it to your address book Dispatch to this address when you check out Open All Hours - Series One [1976] [DVD] Â£4.25 & FREE UK Delivery on orders dispatched by Amazon over Â£20. Details Only 4 left in stock. Sold by best_value_entertainment and Fulfilled by Amazon . Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) is a service Amazon offers sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's warehouses, and Amazon directly does the picking, packing, shipping and customer service on these items. Something Amazon hopes you'll especially enjoy: FBA items are eligible for and for Amazon Prime just as if they were Amazon items. If you're a seller, you can increase your sales significantly by using Fulfilment by Amazon.

We invite you to learn more about this programme . Special Offers and Product Promotions Find all the best television shows from the other side of the pond in our US TV store and catch the latest shows in our 2014's Hottest TV page. Frequently Bought Together Add all three to Basket These items are dispatched from and sold by different sellers. Show details Buy the selected items together This item:Open All Hours - Series One [1976] [DVD] by Ronnie Barker DVD Â£4.25 Only 4 left in stock. Sold by best_value_entertainment and sent from Amazon Fulfillment. FREE Delivery on orders over Â£20. Details Open All Hours - Series Two [1981] [DVD] by Ronnie Barker DVD Â£2.49 Only 2 left in stock. Sold by A ENTERTAINMENT and sent from Amazon Fulfillment. FREE Delivery on orders over Â£20. Details Only 3 left in stock (more on the way). Sent from and sold by Amazon. FREE Delivery on orders over Â£20. Details What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

Format: PAL Language: English Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats. ) Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1 DVD Release Date: 30 Sept. 2002 Run Time: 175 minutes Product Description Product Description All six episodes from the first series of the sitcom set around Arkwright's grocer's store. In 'Full of Mysterious Promise' Arkwright (Ronnie Barker) tries to sell some unlabelled tins. 'A Mattress on Wheels' has Granville (David Jason) try to persuade Arkwright to buy a delivery van. 'A Nice Cosy Little Disease' finds Arkwright feigning sickness in order to receive the attentions of Nurse Gladys Emmanuel (Lynda Baron). 'Beware of the Dog' sees Arkwright grow concerned about security after an attempted burglary. In 'Well Catered Funeral' Arkwright sets about trying to make a profit at his friend's funeral. Finally, 'Apples and Self-Service' finds the store overstocked with apples.

Also includes the 1973 pilot episode in which Arkwright grows concerned when Nurse Gladys' car starts appearing outside a different man's house every night. From Amazon.co.uk Already old-fashioned when the show was made, Open All Hours now seems like a glimpse into a much earlier world. Ronnie Barker stars as Arkwright, a tight-fisted middle-aged Doncaster shopkeeper, while David Jason as Arkwright's nephew Granville makes deliveries by bicycle in a manner more evocative of the 1930s than the 70s. Barker's relationship with Jason parallels his rapport with Richard Beckinsale in Porridge (1974-8), and while the pair may not be in prison, the confines of the small general dealer's shop often seem like that to Granville. Even though at 36 Jason was patently way too old for the supposedly teenage Granville, he and Barker made a great double act. The dry Northern humour centres mostly on money and sex, the latter interest in Arkwright's case being the buxom charms of Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, very well played by Lynda Baron.

Like writer Roy Clarke's Last of the Summer Wine, the episodes are more amusing character sketches than stories, with the 1973 pilot and first regular episode "Full of Mysterious Promise" serving simply to introduce the players. In "A Mattress on Wheels", Arkwright is tempted to buy a van, and in "A Nice Cosy Little Disease" decides a fake illness will prompt Gladys Emmanuel to provide more than NHS standard TLC. "Beware of the Dog" is Arkwright's response to an attempted burglary, while when his best friend dies he plans a "Well Catered Funeral". Finally, in "Apples and Self Service", paranoia defeats Arkwright's attempts to move with the times. On the DVD: Open All Hours has a 4:3 picture that is exceptional for a 1970s sitcom, while the mono sound is excellent. Extras are a reasonably detailed text biography of series writer Roy Clarke, and, much more notably, a complete bonus episode, the 1973 series pilot. The picture quality of this is not up to that of the series proper, but it is perfectly fine for vintage BBC TV.

--Gary S Dalkin Sponsored Products Related To This Item (What's this?) Ronnie Barker - Telegraph Obituaries Ronnie Barker Ronnie Barker, who died on Monday aged 76, was a comedian, actor and scriptwriter who earned both fame and public affection for his appearances in television shows such as The Two Ronnies, Open All Hours and Porridge. Ronnie Barker during filming of The Two Ronnies. Photo: PA 12:01AM BST 05 Oct 2005 Barker did not look like a television comedian - his 15 and a half stones and conservative taste in dress gave him the appearance of a man doing moderately well in chartered accountancy; but his ample build and ability to project an air of unclouded bonhomie provided the perfect counterpoint in his double act with Ronnie Corbett. The Two Ronnies, with scripts co-written by Barker himself under the pen-name of Gerald Wiley, became a national institution, especially dear to admirers of the double entendre. The programme's forte was "honest vulgarity" combined with elements of the more cerebral "new comedy" of John Cleese.

Barker's own writing for the show tended to reflect his fascination with nonsense verse and word-play. His scripts included the incoherent Minister of Communication, the man who could speak only in Limericks, and the "Spoonerism" skits - one of which (the skits had a literary bias) concluded with a reference to Charles Dickens's Tale of Two Cities. One of the best-remembered sketches from the show was set in a hardware shop, where the customer is presented with four candles, after asking for "fork handles". The impact of Porridge was far greater than the number of episodes filmed (20) might suggest, and made many wonder what Barker would have achieved had he directed all his energies into acting; Sir Alec Guinness was one of many classical actors who greatly admired Barker's genius for characterisation. The part of Norman Stanley Fletcher - Barker said that he modelled the character on his father - was probably his most successful television role. The gum-chewing "Fletch", fond of inviting his fellow convicts to "naff off", was a likeable rogue whose mixture of cunning and charm allowed him to beat the system from the inside.

Related Articles Sam Kelly 30 Jun 2014 Ronald William George Barker was born at Bedford on September 25 1929 and brought up in Oxford. From Donnington Junior School he went on to Oxford High School, where he opened his chemistry textbook to find the name TE Lawrence inscribed on the flyleaf. Although there was no acting tradition in the family - his father was a clerk for Shell Mex - Ronnie became fascinated by Laurence Olivier's performance in the film version of Henry V, and played truant in order to view the picture repeatedly, even though the cinema entrance was in full view of the headmaster's study window. Before taking the Higher School Certificate, he left school to enrol at architectural college in Oxford; but he found the long hours unpalatable, and instead joined the Westminster Bank as a junior clerk. Barker maintained his interest in drama by taking part in the local amateur dramatic group, and made regular trips to Aylesbury Rep. In 1948 he took an afternoon off work, auditioned, and accepted a job (starting that night) with the company, the Aylesbury branch of the Manchester Repertory Players.

When the Aylesbury section closed down, Barker was transferred to a Welsh branch of the same company; that, too, collapsed, and he went back to Oxford to take a job as a porter at the Wingfield Hospital. The experience of working with polio victims shook him but, as he later remarked, proved invaluable in giving him a broad and compassionate perspective in his comedy. Barker continued to apply for jobs advertised in the Stage, one of which brought a two-year spell in rep at Bramhall, after which he joined the Oxford Playhouse, where he met the young Maggie Smith - and told her: "If I were you, I'd give up." When Peter Hall arrived as director of the Playhouse company, he took Barker to London with him for Mourning Becomes Electra (1955); this opened the way for other West End productions, notably Lysistrata and Irma La Douce (both 1958), and radio shows such as The Navy Lark, in which he appeared for nine years. He married his wife, Joy Tubb, in 1957, having met her the previous year while appearing in The Letter at the Cambridge Arts Theatre, where she was assistant stage manager.

Barker first saw her from behind, while she was bending down to pick up a prop: "I immediately thought: 'That's the girl for me'." He continued to work in the theatre throughout the 1960s, and in 1964 was complimented by Eric Shorter for his contribution to All in Love (a mediocre musical based on The Rivals), in which The Daily Telegraph's critic detected "extra malapropisms". In July 1965 Barker appeared in the minor classic A Home of Your Own, a short wordless satire on the habits of the British builder, with Bernard Cribbins and Fred Emney. It was Jimmy Gilbert, a BBC producer, who recommended Barker for The Frost Report in 1966. David Frost himself suggested Ronnie Corbett, whom he had seen en scene at Danny La Rue's club in London; also appearing in the show were Marty Feldman, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie and John Cleese, who played the upper-class part in sketches with Corbett and Barker satirising, with the aid of their absurdly differing physical statures, the rigidity of British social structure.

Barker later said that he found most of the Frost Report team "rather 'Varsity"; as an old Oxford High man, he presumably caught the scent of "town and gown" in the air. He recalled how he and Corbett (whom he had previously met in the latter's capacity as barman at a late-night drinking club in Soho) tended to stick together "as grammar-school boys among graduates", to the point where they came to be seen as a team, and followed David Frost to Rediffusion for At Last the 1948 Show (1967), and Frost On Sunday (1968). The Two Ronnies, which began in 1971, quickly established a successful formula which was based on deliberately naive caricatures of British life: bumbling colonels, retarded yokels and bosomy barmaids. Corbett and Barker generated sympathy in viewers to the point where they were able to carry all this off with natural accents of received standard English, which was still a handicap in mainstream comedy.

The success of the shows was the result of solid scripts; with the exception of "It's goodnight from him" at the end of the news items that closed the show, there was little reliance on catchphrases (far less, for instance, than in many other fashionable shows of the period, including the "completely different" Monty Python's Flying Circus). At the start of its 16-year run, the BBC was investing heavily in "classic" serials: a spoof such as Gerald Wiley's Hampton Wick relied on its topicality, as did that of Colditz, in which Wiley's script was an earthier version of the Empire-bashing skits in Monty Python ("This place is impregnable," one despairing PoW complains, prompting Corbett to reflect: "That's what they said about Doreen Phipps. How wrong they were.") Music was provided by regular favourites such as Big Jim Jehosophat and Fatbelly Jones, the American folk singers. One of the programme's main features was a spot for an irreverent chorus of songs, for example Swing Low Sweet Harriet, performed by the Plumstead Ladies' Male Voice Choir.

The show concluded with a round-up of spoof news items of the "scientist who crossed the theories of Sigmund Freud with those of Albert Einstein and got sex at the speed of light" variety. The comparative subtlety of Barker's verbal gags limited the show's export potential, and it never travelled as well as, for example, The Benny Hill Show, though there was some success in America - in February 1978 the Washington Post's television page advertised a broadcast by Ronald Reagan with the headline "The One Ronnie". In 1971, the same year that The Two Ronnies began, Six Dates With Barker gave notice of what the comedian could do as a television character actor. Each of the Friday night shows was the work of a different writer, and the series began with a play by Hugh Leonard, The Removals Person, in which Barker played Fred, a short-sighted removal man (he was to take a similar role in his final television series, Clarence). In John Cleese's Come in and Lie Down, Barker played a complacent psychiatrist faced by an ebullient gas-meter reader with anarchic views on the nature of reality.

The last of the acclaimed series, All the World's a Stooge, was by Gerald Wiley himself, and set in the year AD 2774, in a country where custard pies were the compulsory breakfast menu and old jokes were the only permitted form of conversation. Porridge (1974-77) provided Barker with exceptional scripts and a superb supporting cast: Richard Beckinsale as Lennie Godber; Brian Wilde as the whingeing liberal, Mr Barrowclough; Brian Glover as the prison dupe - all under the watchful eye of Fulton Mackay. Fletch's character, despite his cynicism, was endearing enough to draw compliments from those with experience of genuine incarceration. When John R Watson, the former governor of Wakefield Prison, wrote to The Daily Telegraph to complain about a Panorama report on the 1977 riots in Hull prison, he added that "the humour, repartee and understanding certainly are not exaggerated in Ronnie Barker's Porridge".

Barker was not, in fact, the scriptwriter (the series was by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais), but Watson was right to consider Porridge to be Ronnie Barker's show; and it was Fletch who received letters from convicts saying that the series "felt right". In 1978 Fletcher went home to Muswell Hill in Going Straight, only to find that his wife had left him for a cardboard box mogul, obliging him to run the menage with his daughter Ingrid (Patricia Brake) and Godber. The Porridge cycle ended in 1979 with the death of Richard Beckinsale at the age of 31; it devastated Barker, who had been close to the young actor. Barker carried his successful solo career through the 1970s and into the 1980s with shows such as Open All Hours.

Arkwright, the waddling, stammering Yorkshire shopkeeper who divided his time between satisfying his roaring avarice and attempting to control his lust for the district nurse, Gladys (Lynda Baron), failed to win over the critics on his first appearance in 1976; but he went on, supported by David Jason as the frustrated nephew Granville, to run to four series. Barker was less convincing as Evans the Flash, the eccentric photographer in The Magnificent Evans (1984), which managed only one series, nor was his public quite so taken with Clarence. Just before Clarence's first appearance, Barker had taken the decision to retire following the 1987 Two Ronnies Christmas Show. Worries about having dried up creatively (he was contributing only 20 per cent of the show's scripts, compared with up to 75 per cent in the early days), and a feeling of having achieved all his professional ambitions, were compounded by anxiety about his health; he had suffered from high blood pressure since 1976 and he was badly shaken by the deaths of Eric Morecambe, Tommy Cooper and Leonard Rossiter.

On New Year's Day 1988 Barker retired to his converted watermill in Oxfordshire, devoting his energies to ordering his collection of 70,000 Edwardian and Victorian picture postcards (some of the saucier ones were published in anthologies such as his Book of Bathing Beauties), and to running his antique shop, The Emporium, in Chipping Norton High Street. Though his modesty was charming, few could have accepted Ronnie Barker's own, frequently repeated, description of himself as a "jobbing actor". In an age in which television audiences were increasingly unable to distinguish inferior material from poor artistic performance, it was Barker's felicitous position as comedian and writer - he agonised constantly over the quality of his scripts - which sustained The Two Ronnies for so long, and which made it superior to competing acts. Sir Peter Hall, who was keen for him to play Falstaff at the National Theatre (Barker refused because he could not face the traffic between Pinner and the South Bank), described him as "the great actor we lost".

Ten years after his retirement, Barker popped up briefly as the author of Mum, a play written for his daughter Charlotte, staged at the King's Head, Islington. He returned to the television screen in 2002-03 in the part of Churchill's butler in the film The Gathering Storm, starring Albert Finney, Vanessa Redgrave and Derek Jacobi. Recently he was seen again on television in The Two Ronnies Sketchbook, in which he and Corbett looked back at some of the best sketches from their long-running show. Barker received British Academy Awards in 1975, 1977 and 1978; a Royal Television Society award for outstanding creative achievement in 1975; and lifetime achievement awards in 1990 and 1996. In 1978 he was appointed OBE. He published a number of books, including an autobiography, Dancing in the Moonlight (1993). Ronnie Barker is survived by his wife and by their two sons and a daughter.

Published September 5 2005 Ronnie Barker - TV.com Ronnie Barker 9/25/1929, Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, UK Died Bob Ferris, Jonathan Cobbald, David Huggett, Gerald Wiley 9.8 Children: Charlotte, Larry and Adam. Trivia Awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire). Is well-known for his role in the radio comedy series, "The Navy Lark", in which he played various characters.

Although a fine comic actor in his own right,… more Credits S 1: Ep 2 Episode 2 3/25/05 S 1: Ep 1 Episode 1 3/18/05 S 12: Ep 8 The Two Ronnies Night 7/16/99 S 12: Ep 7 The Two Ronnies Christmas Special 12/25/87 S 12: Ep 6 Episode 6 2/1/86 S 12: Ep 5 Episode 5 1/25/86 S 12: Ep 4 Episode 4 1/18/86 S 1: Ep 3 Episode 3 1/18/88 S 1: Ep 2 Episode 2 1/11/88 S 1: Ep 1 Episode 1 1/4/88 S 4: Ep 5 Happy Birthday Arkwright 9/29/85 S 4: Ep 4 The Errand Boy Executive 9/22/85 S 4: Ep 3 The Housekeeper Caper 9

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4/29/73 S 1: Ep 5 Another Fine Mess 4/22/73 S 1: Ep 4 Spanner's Eleven 4/15/73 S 1: Ep 3 My Old Man 4/8/73 S 1: Ep 2 Prisoner and Escort 4/1/73 S 1: Ep 1 Open All Hours 3/25/73 S 1: Ep 4 1915: Lola 1/29/71 S 1: Ep 3 1971 A.D.: The Odd Job 1/22/71 S 1: Ep 4 Alan King 12/14/68 S 1: Ep 8 Rustless And Relics 5/30/69 S 1: Ep 7 Rustless And The Solar System 5/23/69 S 1: Ep 6 Rustless on Travel Abroad 5/16/69 S 1: Ep 5 Rustless And Literature 5/9/69 S 1: Ep 4 Rustless And a Banquet

 5/2/69 S 1: Ep 1 The Beatles 9/8/68 S 2: Ep 1 Ringo Starr 3/29/70 S 1: Ep 6 Alexander 5/8/68 S 1: Ep 5 Talk of Angels 5/1/68 S 1: Ep 4 The Incredible Mister Tanner 4/24/68 S 1: Ep 3 The Fastest Gun in Finchley 4/17/68 S 1: Ep 2 Ah, There You Are 4/10/68 S 2: Ep 3 Women 4/13/67 S 2: Ep 2 Money 4/6/67 S 2: Ep 1 Frost over England 3/26/67 S 1: Ep 13 Trends 6/9/66 S 1: Ep 12 Food and Drink 6/2/66 S 3: Ep 8 The Two Ronnies 4/11/05 S 1: Ep 1 Porridge 6/9/03 S 1

: Ep 9 Open All Hours 3/6/04 S 1: Ep 7 Porridge 2/21/04 S 7: Ep 5 Ronnie Corbett 3/16/02 S 5: Ep 4 Ronnie Barker 12/28/00 S 3: Ep 2 Ronnie Corbett 12/19/00 S 1: Ep 2 Richard Briers: A Good Life 4/16/00 S 1: Ep 2 Richard Beckinsale 3/15/00 S 3: Ep 12 An Audience With Ronnie Corbett 10/25/97 S 35: Ep 2 Leslie Crowther 11/9/94 S 35: Ep 16 Richard Briers 3/9/94 S 2: Ep 6 1983 [4 Parts] 11/25/83 S 2: Ep 4 1982 [6 Parts] 11/26/82 S 15: Ep 2 Franklyn And Johnnie 4/23

/74 S 13: Ep 1 Idle At Work 1/14/72 S 7: Ep 1 A Midsummer Night's Dream 9/26/71 S 3: Ep 5 Episode 20 4/15/70 S 5: Ep 2 Charley's Aunt 11/23/69 S 11: Ep 4 When We Are Married 12/29/75 S 1: Ep 3 July 9, 1969 7/9/69 S 5: Ep 8 The Hidden Tiger 3/4/67 S 5: Ep 9 The Better Mousetrap 11/25/66 S 3: Ep 13 Bruno 12/19/65 S 1: Ep 2 A Pair of Socks 2/28/62 S 2: Ep 6 Rustless On Do-It-Yourself 8/14/70 S 1: Ep 6 Episode 6 2/8/88 S 1: Ep 5 Episode 5 2/

1/88 S 1: Ep 4 Episode 4 1/25/88 S 1: Ep 3 Episode 3 1/18/88 S 1: Ep 2 Episode 2 1/11/88 S 1: Ep 6 One Man's Meat 4/29/73 Become a contributor Important: You must only upload images which you have created yourself or that you are expressly authorised or licensed to upload.

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Question: What was the name of Ronnie Barker's character in Open All Hours
Answer: Arkwright